The Missing Link...

What is that invisible Blight

That twists the logic of insight

And bends the rules of holiness

To satisfy material ‘yes’

What takes motives of Good Intent

And wreaks havoc with its dissent

What feeds the failure to discern

Objective’s ultimate return

And blinds perception’s acumen

With what seems credible, but then

When looking back we are surprised

At what it lacked when undisguised

What makes a man stoop to new lows

In a maelstrom of verbal blows

Where no one is better or worse

When it comes to that inborn curse

Because the plight of humankind

Is universally entwined

What makes mere mortal swagger-bold

While love for life’s Giver runs cold

What warps wisdom’s intelligence?

And strips the mind of common sense

Could it be lack of holy fear

For the God we ought to revere

© Janet Martin

Proverbs 1:7 

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,

 but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Psalm 111:10

 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

 all who follow His precepts have a rich understanding. His praise endures forever!

Prov. 9:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, 

and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Wonders Never Cease

 A glimpse of today's wonders and it's not even half-past morning yet!!

Ah, wonders never cease

Where trouble’s ways increase

Still nature’s tides release

Ripples of constant awe

As seasons overflow

The banks of Bygone’s woe

With love’s breath-taking show

(Love is the Giver’s law)

Wonder with fresh surprise

Ignites a thousand sighs

It delights our eyes

With beauty’s blessing-feast

Then lift thine drooping head

Mercy does not forget

Wonder’s buffet is spread

On north, south, west and east

Yes, wonders never cease

Midst constant chaos, peace

Where flowers, hills and trees

And innocence and such

Fill hearts with joyful praise

For life’s most common days

Never cease to amaze

Beneath the master’s touch

The woodland’s tranquil path

Winter’s green aftermath

The faithful autograph

Of sunrise-riven lease

Where Mercy is renewed

Where hope is bloom-imbued

Where grace stirs gratitude

Where wonders never cease

© Janet Martin

Psalm 40:4-5

 Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, 

who has not turned to the proud, 

nor to those who lapse into falsehood.

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, 

 and the plans You have for us— 

none can compare to You— 

if I would proclaim and declare of them, 

they are more than could be numbered.

Glorious Green

Green hills and fields

Green lawns and glades

Green fronds and leaves

In countless shades

Green opens up

Its floodgates wide

And lavishes

The countryside

Ah, tell me

Who has ever seen

More hues and tints

Than glorious green

...where June is like 

a gallery

To showcase 

green's grand majesty

And earth is like

a beauty queen

Decked in a thousand

Shades of green

The train of glory's

gown unfurled

And trailing all

around the world

 

© Janet Martin

June Morning After Rain...

 He provides rain for the earth; 

he sends water on the countryside.

Job 5:10

Earth, parched by heat guzzles the healing rain

Hope gleams with grace; it dazzles like a chain

Of diamonds on the outstretched arms of trees

It pearls in petal-shells of peonies

Hills roll like green waves rushing from our doors

Horizons blur on turquoise-misted shores

Breeze billows, willow-wisps whisper and sigh

And toss a hymn of gladness to the sky

And we, often bereft of eloquence

Revel in renewed wonder’s reverence

As like a bud a brand new day unfolds

And flowers on a stem God’s mercy holds

 

© Janet Martin

Recognizing June...

Reveling in June...

Before the crickets start to sing

Nature sets earth at ease

After the heady rush of spring

Has settled into leaves

It steeps the air with fairest sense

Of endless afternoon

While rousing rippling frond-cadence

We’ve come to know as June

And now we bow before plush plumes

Lupine and peony

To praise the Author of bud-looms

For petal majesty

Of iris, lily, columbine

Ditches where wild phlox flows

Clematis and wisteria-vine

Delphinium and rose

Blight has not smitten summer yet

Delight is sure and new

Each tree a green fan grandly set

Against backdrops pure blue

And everywhere we turn we hear

Sweet bird-song's carefree tune

All part of why hearts hold so dear

The happiness of June

We start to harvest the first fruits

Of dust entrusted seeds

How slender still, the rebel-roots

Of bold and heedless weeds

Where the more seasoned gardener knows

We must pluck them for soon

A weed like a bad habit grows

Unless addressed in June

We cool ourselves in pools of shade

Beneath a canopy

Of lush luminous leaf-brocade

How lovely is each tree

Where we go drifting ‘neath its limbs

On a lux’ry pontoon

While being regaled with breeze -hymns

We recognize as June

© Janet Martin